BORGES: Canelo Isn't As Risky For Floyd As Pacquiao Was

Generally Floyd Mayweather, Jr. insists he doesn’t watch video of future opponents. He must have made an exception in the case of Saul “Canelo’’ Alvarez.

That seems the most logical explanation for Mayweather’s decision to face the unified junior middleweight champion at 152 pounds after first insisting Alvarez come all the way down to 147 if he wanted to make the biggest fight in boxing.

Ultimately Mayweather moved off that demand as Alvarez’s people did when they initially insisted their fighter could not come in an ounce below the division’s 154-pound limit because he hadn’t made welterweight in 3 ½ years. That Alvarez would waver from that with a looming multi-million dollar payday that will be the largest of his career went without saying. What did not was what Mayweather would do.

Faced with a threat from Golden Boy Promotions that it would move on to someone else if the fight could not be settled by Wednesday night after weeks of haggling, both sides relented. Alvarez took the money and Mayweather took home a video of Alvarez’s closely fought decision over Austin Trout and probably concluded: “This guy couldn’t hit me in the ass with a banjo.’’

In the end, such conclusions are how big fights get made these days.

When you are guaranteed $32.5 million to fight air, the lure of filthy lucre loses some of its appeal, even to a guy nicknamed “MONEY.’’ These days too many boxers and far too many of the people around them operate as if they work for Metropolitan Life. They don’t consult BoxRec before making a match. They consult actuarial tables, calculating the risk-reward ratio and most often choosing to avoid the risk because there are rewards elsewhere far easier to procure.

Mayweather once regularly insulted Manny Pacquiao for making opponents come in either below their most comfortable weight or above it. Now he’s in Pacquiao’s boxing shoes and doing much the same thing. That is not a criticism of him because it’s good business and prize fighting remains, after all, a business; it just points out that they all operate the same way once they’re in position to dictate terms.

That is how Mayweather has long looked at his profession and rightfully so and it is now how he looks at Alvarez, an opponent who should allow him to maximize his income without the risk Pacquiao once carried with him.

Frankly, if Mayweather didn’t feel that way he would not have agreed to a deal that will not include a rehydration clause that could have prevented Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO) from ballooning back up to a likely 170 pounds by the time the two enter the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 14. That Mayweather did not insist on such a clause tells me he feels the heavier – and hence slower – Alvarez is the easier it will be to avoid him while also thinking that forcing him to come in below his optimum weight may weigh on young Alvarez psychologically as well as physically just enough to round off some of his sharper edges.

Mayweather remains one of the best fighters in the world at both movement and counterpunching even at the advanced age of 36 but he is more than that. He is extremely clever, crafty and well versed in what an opponent can and cannot do to him. His 44-0 record is as much a result of his knowledge of the geometry and psychology of boxing as the physical skills he’s been blessed with.

So when he tweeted out Wednesday night “I chose my opponent for September 14th and it’s Canelo Alvarez,’’ the emphasis should have been on the world “chosen. Mayweather did not pick the money, even though he so often claims that is what he is about.

He chose the man. The bigger man to be sure but not as big as Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto were when he fought them at the 154-pound limit. Both were older and slower, damaged in the way boxing damages even its greatest practitioners over time so Mayweather did not insist they come in below that weight, in part because he understood that sloth on their part would benefit him.

Alvarez, on the other hand, is a 22-year-old kid for whom losing two pounds may be more mind-numbing than strength sapping, a point Mayweather knows is often the most important one in a fight.

In addition, Alvarez was often troubled trying to locate Trout before ultimately wearing him down enough to drop him once and escape with a victory that was far closer than the ringside judges indicated. Surely Mayweather looked at what Trout did for much of the fight and nodded his head, thinking he can do it for all of the fight and then some.

“I’m giving the fans what they want,’’ Mayweather tweeted but more to the point he’s giving himself what he wants: a high profile opponent who he doubts yet has the experience and skill to threaten him in the way Pacquiao in his prime would have.

Mayweather took Cotto’s heavier punches and never buckled on a night when Mayweather was clearly off his feed, perhaps as a result of his looming incarceration in the county lockup in Las Vegas. He was all but unhittable against Robert Guerrero in his return and while Guerrero is not Alvarez, Mayweather believes Alvarez is not Cotto, at least when it comes to power, nor is he De La Hoya, who might well have beaten him had he had the will and the stamina to keep sticking Mayweather with his jab.

What Alvarez is to Mayweather is a younger, fresher and unbeaten Cotto who believes completely in both his ability and his destiny but lacks Cotto’s punching power, De La Hoya’s boxing skills or Pacquiao’s relentless ferociousness.

Canelo Alvarez will of course have to be convinced of that. He will also have to be convinced that he cannot hit Floyd Mayweather, Jr. He won’t simply enter the ring already fearing that is so, as so many of Mayweather’s opponents have done.

His problem will be that Floyd Mayweather, Jr., one of the smartest minds in boxing, is already convinced of it. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in there in the first place.

agree, pac man with his speed and relentless movement will make money may very uncomfortable, Very hard fight for Floyd?, Canelo is easy money for Floyd, I believe if Canelo would have stopped Trout in a beating in the late rounds, Money May would never had taken the fight, he saw how Canelo slowed done in the championship rounds, Thats easy work for Money may, he will be one step ahead of Saul during the fight, might even stop him if canelo loses his composure and gets reckless, unless Pretty boy becomes old overnight and the cinammon kid rises. We shall see,

Raiders says:

This really is a garbage hit piece, the Pacquiao fight didn't happen because of Arum, he's blocking us from having great fights at 140 and 126. Floyd had to leave Arum to fight Oscar a move that cost Arum millions, some people are going to whine no matter who you pick, if he had skipped Canelo it's a duck, since he fought him Canelo isn't good, haters got to hate. Pacquiao is fighting a 140,pounder and you write this story? That's what's wrong with the boxing media they love one side.

Burkous says:

Does anyone recommend a particular website to stream fights? Also, can you usually find real time streaming or do you have to watch a replay? Thanks, I am without cable for a while and am in dire need of some boxing.

No hit piece merely the truth. Not that he (nor anyone else for that matter) would care, of course, but I'll never forgive Floyd for ducking Pacquiao, and accordingly will never think of him as a great fighter, even as a greater and greater number of people, most of whom no nothing at all about boxing, buy into putting him in the GOAT argument. Which is utterly ludicrous. To me he is not the greatest of this generation, even; that is Manny, who I believe would have knocked Floyd out 3-4 years ago.

By saying Pac was on steroids, Floyd was effectively saying, "there's no way anyone could be on the level and be this good." Which tells you all you need to know about how Floyd felt about his prospects of winning that fight.

Raiders says:

No hit piece merely the truth. Not that he (nor anyone else for that matter) would care, of course, but I'll never forgive Floyd for ducking Pacquiao, and accordingly will never think of him as a great fighter, even as a greater and greater number of people, most of whom no nothing at all about boxing, buy into putting him in the GOAT argument. Which is utterly ludicrous. To me he is not the greatest of this generation, even; that is Manny, who I believe would have knocked Floyd out 3-4 years ago.

By saying Pac was on steroids, Floyd was effectively saying, "there's no way anyone could be on the level and be this good." Which tells you all you need to know about how Floyd felt about his prospects of winning that fight.

The question people like you hate is why did Manny turn down testing with Floyd but demand it with Rios? Floyd haters wanted him to get hurt they didn't care how. If i go on TV and call out Pacquiao it doesn't mean he ducked me, it's going to be funny if Matthysse beats Garcia and say Jean at 140 and moves up to 147, if Lucas does good at 147 and calls out Pacquiao you are the same type of person who will say Pacquiao isn't ducking because they have different promoters. Yes haters got to hate, Floyd picked the exact person people wanted, he will give up about 14 pounds on fight night but still people whine.

riverside says:

This really is a garbage hit piece, the Pacquiao fight didn't happen because of Arum, he's blocking us from having great fights at 140 and 126. Floyd had to leave Arum to fight Oscar a move that cost Arum millions, some people are going to whine no matter who you pick, if he had skipped Canelo it's a duck, since he fought him Canelo isn't good, haters got to hate. Pacquiao is fighting a 140,pounder and you write this story? That's what's wrong with the boxing media they love one side.

what is the logic of having Canelo come down 2 lbs? I say Maywether beats canelo with ease @154, no easy task.

Raiders says:

what is the logic of having Canelo come down 2 lbs? I say Maywether beats canelo with ease @154, no easy task.

For the last 4 years anyone who questioned Pacquiao using a 2 pound catchweight against Cotto was a hating troll but now Floyd is using a catchweight and it's a problem? Really I hope Floyd pulls out and fights Khan to punish the people who hate him.

Radam G says:

Two pounds or even an ounce matters. But, of course, Money May beats the red-headed superhype regardless of a loss or gain of weight. Fam May and The Money Team are just controlling syet, and they should be. They are just getting a psychological edge and beating Canelo with psy ops before the phy ops even starts. The more you break down the mental red-headed syperhype, the less of a problem you may have with the physical superhype.

Canelo will be hypnotized to the Money May's magic. And Canelo will become a pitiful tragic. Fam May and TMT have already won eight rounds, and will probably stop Canelo by round 10. However don't surprised to see the Money May's hyponotized Team Canelo to throw in the towel or halt the bout between rounds.

Money May has PUNKED Team Canelo, the fanfaronades and a couple of fanboys into hoping and believing that Canelo has a shot. Money has fooled 'em again to purchase a lemon fight from his metaphoric pugilism PPV used-car lot. Hehehehe! Double muthasuckas are born every Sin City fu**. And Money May keep taking their every dang, hard-earned buck. Holla!

ali says:

Raiders u are on fire I agree with you 110%

Radam G says:

Raiders, you are on fire doing what I expected. Making excuses for Money May. Haters and dey bitches called Da Manny the titleholder of catchweights for making Cotto lose two pounds. Call a spade a spade. Don't change the grade. Holla!

Raiders says:

Raiders, you are on fire doing what I expected. Making excuses for Money May. Haters and dey bitches called Da Manny the titleholder of catchweights for making Cotto lose two pounds. Call a spade a spade. Don't change the grade. Holla!

Manny won Sergio's 154 belt against Margarito at 150, the WBC Junior Middleweight limit actually goes Martinez-Pacquiao-Canelo that should be a problem to a true boxing fan as he faced neither. I got major issues with 4 belts being on the the line in a catchweight but the narrative from the boxing media has been that there was nothing wrong with Manny's catchweights. Floyd is being hypocritical no doubt but so is the boxing media, Floyd is a hype machine boxing journalists should attempt to be consistent as should well intentioned fans.

Radam G says:

It is boxing biz, not hypocrisy. All is fair in luv and war. And the scribes just report -- calling a spade a spade. Medrick Taylor made the champ Terry Norris sweat down to 150lbs back in da day. So nuffin [sic] under the seedy boxing sun is new. You do what you can do. It's call tricks of the trade. And the "boxing media" is calling a spade a spade.

Everybodee and dey momma in da game talk syet until it is to their advantage to do the same syet. Nobody is picking on Lil' Floyd. He is just being called to the plate for manning up and playing catchweight. One of the oldest plays of da game. No shame! Just all a part of getting the fame. Holla!

Raiders you are on the wrong boxing forum with your "haters gonna hate" bs.

That is legit on other sites but not this one.

PAC was the phenom active boxer a few years back and was running ****

who was Floyd to fight every 18 months to try and call the shots with his

ped accusations and bs.

Do I think PAC should have just took the test yes, but these guys are on a

different level then is and the small things like calling the shots as little as they are

are pretty effective.

These fighters PAC and Floyd are near Gods in their own minds who are they to be bossed

around by another human.

I'm a huge mayweather fan in the ring, I want more of him and the best out of him

but I think he can be an incredible idiot out of the ring and I don't tolerate domestic

violence. I know woman can make u crazy but 3 allegations and 2 in your 30's is a bad sign.

Can people grow and change yes. Is Floyd I hope.

But I'm not a hater for calling a dumbass a dumbass.

And I'm not a hater for being disappointed in Floyd pricing his way out of the PAC

fight.

That should have been a 50-50 fight.

No question about it.

Matthew says:

Yes, Mayweather is a hypocrite with the catchweight nonsense, but this is hardly the first time he's been hypocritical. He didn't seem to care much about lineal titles when Kostya Tzyu was a potential opponent, but suddenly changed his mind once a fight with Carlos Baldomir was on the table (I still can't believe I watched that fight). I think it would be great if Alvarez blew off the catchweight and paid Mayweather a fee to come in at 154, but I doubt he will. Floyd is a smart guy, and he looks to maximize profits while minimizing risk. It's a great business model, but it's not a recipe for all-time greatness; too many holes in his resume. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao should share blame for that fight not coming off. If either of them really wanted the fight badly enough, they would have said to their respective promoter "make it happen." Neither of them did that. A prime Pacquiao (2009/2010) would have been a tough puzzle for Mayweather to solve due to the southpaw stance, speed, upper body movement, unusual punching angles, and high punch output. I was on record even then saying that I thought Mayweather would have won a close decision, and I still believe that. I think that Alvarez's punching power, strength, and boxing ability will make this fight competitive, but I like Mayweather by decision.

Carmine Cas says:

Apparently Canelo's team offered Mayweather the 152 lb catchweight limit. Either way Mayweather has fought two other opponents at 154 he should have been the champ and said no catch weights necessary. Hypocrite he is, and Pacquiao does not get excused either with catch weights or the rehydration stipulations which is down right cheap and cowardly. It's comical in fact because both have cherry picked opponents throughout their conquests of each division. Pacquiao began in the lightweight division with David Diaz instead of fighting Nate Campbell, Floyd avoid Kosta at 140. I would say Floyd has the better resume at 147, and if Floyd's legs look that good in his last fights, he would have been able to do the same 3 years ago, Canelo presents a much different challenge than Pacquiao

Radam G says:

Sorry, Matt! But Money May has the great "recipe for all-time greatness." You don't eat fruits and veggies until they ripe to your liking and taste. So you don't fight danger arses until they are ripe to your liking and taste. This is the model of the one and only Sugar Ray Robinson.

He didn't fight the undertakers until they were high from smelling enbombment [word mispelled] fluid. He didn't fight the bell-hop boys until they were tired out from carrying so much luggage. He didn't fight the cab drivers until they were edgy from get shook down by the mafia. And YUP! The Sugarman was an ATG because he knew about getting it ripe. I know you are not on the pipe.

Money May has amazing all-time greatness because he knows when to stay away from 'em and when to fight 'em. Call a spade a spade, and give Money May the best grade. He knows the whole nine of the tricks of the trade. Holla!

Same here...... too much speed, Movement with power, circa 2009- 2010 pac-man, but I still think Floyd would of pull out the victory maybe?

Matthew says:

Sure, there were guys that Robinson avoided (you often refer to his sidestepping the Murder's Row guys), but he fought and beat more than enough of Hall of Fame caliber fighters to qualify as the greatest of all time, in my and most others' opinions. I never said Mayweather wasn't a shrewd businessman, and I give him credit for that. It is prizefighting, and not pridefighting. Be that as it may, there are simply too many fights that he avoided (for one reason or another) to qualify him as an all-time great, in my opinion. If Mayweather thinks he's really the greatest fighter of all time, he wouldn't have avoided Casamayor at 130 and 135, Stevie Johnson at 135, Kostya Tzyu at 140, or Paul Williams, Antonio Margarito, and a prime Miguel Cotto at 147. While many like to claim that Ray Leonard ducked Aaron Pryor (a point I disagree with) and had a relatively short prime, he fought and beat Benitez, Duran, and Hearns (all in their prime) in a span of less than two years. Mayweather wasn't blessed with the same pool of potential opponents in and around his weight class, so he should have fought as many of those guys as he could have if he really wanted to achieve greatness. I get the feeling that if Hearns, Duran, and Benitez were fighting today, Mayweather would find a way to avoid them. Don't get me wrong, because of his skill and ring IQ, I think Mayweather could have competed in almost any era. To me, however, his resume is not one of an all-time great.

Matthew says:

While Floyd Jr. is a much better fighter than his father, I completely agree there's no way he'd beat Leonard. Leonard was too fast, too big, and too strong. He'd have had Mayweather Jr. in defensive mode all night. Leonard by late round stoppage or wide unanimous decision.

leon30001 says:

Same here...... too much speed, Movement with power, circa 2009- 2010 pac-man, but I still think Floyd would of pull out the victory maybe?

I could honestly envisage Floyd getting kayoed. Then again, in my mind's eye I can also see him pulling it out by decision. Hence the tragedy of the fight's non-occurence...we'll never know!

Radam G says:

Matt, holla at Aaron "Hawk Time" Pryor's record on Boxrec and read about the contact signed between him and Sugar Ray Leonard. It is a fact JACK. The Sugarman -- with a detached retina -- ease on down the road away from the crazy-arse, danger-arse HAWK from back in da day. And Hawk Time cried a bytch.

Boxrec has stepped up its game and is becoming like the cost-you-some-bucks-to-get-the-real-and-right-and-true-syet FightFax. Holla!

Matthew says:

I have written on this site several times before that Leonard had signed contracts to fight both Pryor and Arguello before he retired in November of 1982 (this was written in a well-known sports publication, and I possess the article). If a guy retires because of an injury, I don't consider that a duck. If Leonard had performed better against Kevin Howard, and Pryor had maintained some semblance of control over his turbulent life (not that Leonard's life wasn't turbulent also, but not as bad as Pryor's), the fight could have come off in 1984. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

ali says:

Deepwater if u don't knocked it off.. Floyd Sr. had Paulie M power so even when he made him miss (which he made him miss alot) he couldn't make him pay. Mayweather Jr has enough pop to make Sugar respect what was coming back at him. MayweatherI think would beat sugar Ray at 147 in a great fight.

amayseng says:

Deepwater if u don't knocked it off.. Floyd Sr. had Paulie M power so even when he made him miss (which he made him miss alot) he couldn't make him pay. Mayweather Jr has enough pop to make Sugar respect what was coming back at him. MayweatherI think would beat sugar Ray at 147 in a great fight.

Wow.

Wait a minute.

Floyd?

I knew it!!!!!!!!!!!

No doubt this isn't mayweather jr himself posing as "Ali" on TSS

Radam G says:

Hehehehe! Dat Dang poser! But seriously, I think that it would've been a Money May's victory in the first bout, similar to the Sugarman being off against "Fists of Stones" Roberto Duran. But in Bout II and III, the Sugarman would've edged Money May out.

amayseng says:

Radam Duran ( my dads favorite fighter) was a different animal all together.

Completely different styles.

SouthPaul says:

Nitpick this match up to death all you want but when it's all sorted out...still the science at it's sweetest.

If the two pounds turns out to be that detrimental .... Truly ....sincerely .....that's on Canelo long before the bout was ever signed.

It'll be a sensational weekend in Vegas. I'm with it! Got my eye open for Radam in the pink fedora . Holla'!

Radam G says:

NYET! I'll be back in the States and in Sin City for that one. But I'll be in a brown-colored leather fedora. I'm getting it made special ordered in Hong Kong tomorrow when I fly through on my way back to the P-Islands for a minute and two clicks, always before a typhoon and the rain coming down like bricks. Hehehe!

You been gone for a minute. What's up with that? SCLA Ali disappeared too for a click. And B-Sug has vanished without a clue. He hit over two-thousand posts, and I guess he was through. And hitting a thousand posts, we are waiting on you. Holla!